Vision Financial Markets LLC Purchases Shares of 8,600 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $56.31 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.68 and its 200-day moving average is $53.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.74 and a twelve month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.